If melanoma is caught in the early stages, the survival rates are very high. As the disease progresses, you may have to pursue more aggressive treatment options. Some of these treatments are similar to how other types of cancers are treated. Here are some of the ways to take care of a melanoma.

The first line of treatment for a melanoma is generally surgery. The excision of the skin abnormality is done in the hopes that the abnormal cells don’t spread into other parts of your body. Visit a dermatology clinic such as Asheboro Dermatology and Skin Surgery Center so that you can have your melanoma assessed before it can become metastatic. If the cells are allowed to spread, you’ll have to consider more aggressive treatments in order to be cancer-free.

For a more advanced case of melanoma, there are new drug treatments that will boost your immune response. The drugs turn on the proteins in your immune cells so that they can recognize the abnormal cells. These proteins act as gate keepers in the regulation of determining if a cell is abnormal. Melanoma cells use their unique abilities to mask themselves from these gate keeping cells of your immune system. The drug then allows your body to destroy these abnormal cells on its own.

Approximately half of the melanomas contain a certain gene called BRAF. The protein associated with this gene becomes mutated, which allows the cancer cells to thrive within your body. The drugs will target this gene or protein in the hopes of shrinking the cancer cells. This can allow your own immune system to rid your body of the abnormal cells.

Chemotherapy is only used in the later stages of melanoma treatment. This is because it isn’t as effective in this type of cancer and has a number of unwelcome side effects. Radiation is only used when surgery isn’t an option, or if there is a concern that the melanoma is becoming metastatic. Melanoma that has returned after surgery or is in a lymph node may require that you receive radiation therapy.

Your best line of defense is to visit your doctor if you notice a skin abnormality. If a melanoma is caught early, you have a much better chance of a favorable outcome. There are treatments that are designed for more advanced cases, but the side effects may outweigh the benefits that you receive.